Lennar’s home sales revenues and deliveries declined in the builder’s first quarter as results were weighed down by constrained housing affordability, cautious consumer sentiment, and concerns stemming from geopolitical uncertainty. While the market remained “stubbornly challenging,” executive chairman and CEO Stuart Miller expressed confidence in Lennar’s focus on core operating principals and optimism for a turn in the market.
“Recently, challenges [in the housing market] seem to have intensified given the volatility and uncertainty surrounding current events in the Middle East and the recent pullback of instiutiontal purchasers as participants in the market,” Miller told investors during Lennar’s earnings call. “Even with additional hurdles, we believe we are closer to an inflexion point for Lennar than at any point in the past three years.”
Revenues from home sales during the first quarter, ended Feb. 28, decreased 13% on a year-over-year basis to $6.3 billion. Revenues were lower primarily due to an 8% decrease in average home sales prices to $374,000 and a 5% decrease in the number of home deliveries to 16,863. Lennar attributed the decline in price to weakness in the market and an increased use of sales incentives. Miller said sales incentives on deliveries remained elevated at 14.1% of sales, though he expressed optimism that incentives are beginning to stabilize.
“Our strategy has been to actively design around the affordability challenge rather than waiting it out,” Miller said. “We have focused on prioritizing volume to create durable scale advantages, delivering that volume at lower prices, and ultimately improving margins.”
The builder continued to level-set its starts and sales pace per community, with starts running at a rate of 3.4 per community per month and sales running at a rate of 3.6 per community per month.
“Our cycle time improved to 122 days, our shortest ever, and our inventory turn increased to 2.5 times, reflecting strength in our land-light model, as well as improved execution across our construction operations and supply chain,” Miller said. “Additionally, our construction costs improved just over 2.5% in the first quarter and have decreased 12% over the last two years, even as labor remains constrained and materials face constant pricing pressure.”
Lennar generated a profit of $229 million, or $0.93 per share, in the first quarter of 2026, down from a profit of $520 million, or $1.96 per share, in the first quarter of 2025.
During Lennar’s earnings call, Miller reiterated the company’s focus on its operational, financial, and technological core tenants. He explained how the company is driving volume to maximize efficiency and working to refine efficiency in how it operates and how Lennar is focused on refining its asset-light, land-light approach to create strong returns and cash flow. Additionally, Miller said the company is engaging and incorporating technologies to help advance its operational progress and enhance customer experiences.
“To date, we have carefully defined and refined each of these tenants. In 2026, we are bringing new levels of expectation and accountability to each of these areas and expect to drive definable results quarter by quarter in each of these areas,” Miller concluded.
